The Portland Museum of Art is once again partnering with MOFGA for a series of events about growing programs and issues in our communities. All events take place in the Bernard Osher Foundation Auditorium and are free for PMA and MOFGA members ($10 for the general public).

March 26The Hidden World of Bees & Pollination
6:30 p.m.
Hear Christy Hemenway from Gold Star Bees, Heather Spalding, MOFGA Deputy Director, and Fedco Seeds founder, C.R. Lawn, talk about our pollinators and the national and local issues that concern them and our food supply. Maine honey and mead tasting to follow.

April 4Inside the Portland Food Co-op
11:00 a.m.
Food co-ops are nationally on the rise. Learn why these organizations are so integral to a sustainable community and about the Portland Food Co-op’s unique mission to serve the community.

Organic and Sustainable Agriculture News

Public Hearing for New York State GMO Labeling BillThe Cornucopia Institute - 7/17/2013. New York State’s GMO Labeling Bill, A3525-A, is getting a public hearing on July 30, 2013. The New York state Assembly Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection will be holding the hearing.

Why Don't Farmers Believe in Climate Change?Grist - 7/17/2013. By David Biello - If it isn't torrential downpours, then it's too dry. If there's one thing US farmers can count on, it's bad weather, and perhaps as a result, many of them don't think humanity is to blame for the long-term shifts in weather patterns known as climate change.

Monsanto. Broccoli. I Love This. Really!Mother Jones - 7/17/2013. By Tom Philpott - As Michael Moss reports in a recent New York Times piece, a group of plant breeders from land-grant universities – including Cornell, the University of Maine, and the University of Tennessee – are looking to extend broccoli's growing season. Using conventional breeding (i.e., not genetic modification), they've created a breakthrough broccoli strain that can "thrive in hot, steamy summers like those in New York, South Carolina or Iowa," while also delivering heads that are "crisp, subtly sweet and utterly tender when eaten fresh-picked," Moss reports.

Chobani Caught in Crosshairs of GMO DebateAdvertising Age - 7/17/2013. The non-GMO movement is making Chobani its latest target as activists begin to pressure dairy brands that had until now largely escaped scrutiny. An organization called GMO Inside is calling on the Greek yogurt maker to stop marketing its products as "real" and "natural" until it stops using milk from cows that are fed with genetically modified feed.

6:30 p.m., Bernard Osher Foundation Auditorium, Portland Museum of Art. Hear Christy Hemenway from Gold Star Honeybees, Heather Spalding, MOFGA deputy director, and Fedco Seeds founder CR Lawn talk about our pollinators and the national and local issues that concern them and our food supply. Maine honey and mead tasting to follow. A Community Collaboration between Portland Museum of Art and MOFGA. Free for PMA and MOFGA members ($10 for the general public). Schedule and details.

6 to 9 p.m. Classes held in locations throughout Maine to give gardeners the skills and knowledge to transition from conventional to organic gardening. Registration: typically $5 to cover handouts. Information with class locations.

Locations: Common Ground Education Center in Unity with Jen Ries, or College of the Atlantic in Mount Desert with C.J. Walke. Learn to propagate and reproduce your favorite fruit tree varieties. Participants graft trees to take home and plant. $50 per person. Information and registration.

Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., East Sangerville Grange. Presented in partnership by East Sangerville Grange, Piscataquis County Soil & Water Conservation District, and Maine Highlands MOFGA Chapter. Speakers will cover topics of interest to both gardeners and commercial farmers. Doors open at 9:30. Light lunch will be provided. For directions go to www.grange.org/eastsangervilleme177/ or call Erin Callaway at 343-0171. RSVPs appreciated to make lunch planning easier.

9 a.m. to the afternoon, MOFGA’s Maine Heritage Orchard in Unity. We'll start with a demonstration on how to plant a tree. All ages are welcome. Bring a shovel, lunch, friends and kids. No charge. FMI: MOFGA.org or apples@mofga.org.